


Many Happy Returns

by Sanctum_Sanctorum



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Blow Jobs, Character Death, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-20
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2019-05-09 10:36:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14714438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sanctum_Sanctorum/pseuds/Sanctum_Sanctorum
Summary: Tony and Stephen have been dating for a few months now and everything is perfect. When Tony finds out that Stephen's birthday is coming up he decides to plan a surprise party for his boyfriend. What's the worst that can happen?





	Many Happy Returns

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this one shot written on my laptop for months and I'm finally happy enough with it to post it. 
> 
> In this fic Tony and Stephen met long before the events of Infinity War and are dating. This is set a few years before Iron Man. 
> 
> Warnings: Character death (neither Stephen nor Tony)

Tony groaned as his alarm bleeped on the bedside locker and he clumsily slapped in the general direction of the clock without opening his eyes until the alarm powered off. He fluttered his eyes open and looked around the room before glancing at the time. 7am. He really wasn’t one for these early mornings. 

“Good morning sleepyhead,” said Stephen emerging from the bathroom with a toothbrush hanging from his mouth. 

Tony groaned and pulled the duvet over his head. “Remind me again why the alarm is set for 7am when you’re already up?”

“Don’t want to waste the day in bed, babe,” said Stephen with a grin. 

“I can’t believe I’m dating a morning person,” groaned Tony from under the bedsheets. 

He heard Stephen laughing in the bathroom before the man came out the door and climbed back onto the bed. “You’re such a grump in the morning,” he said softly as he pulled away the duvet and cupped Tony’s face in his hands. 

“Well maybe you should make it worth my while getting up at ridiculous O’clock, Strange,” said Tony keeping with Stephen’s playful tone. 

“Gladly,” said Stephen as he dipped down and took Tony’s mouth in his own. Tony hummed into the kiss savouring the fresh taste of peppermint from Stephen’s breath. God, he loved this. Kissing Stephen was worth getting up at any time for, he could do this forever. 

Stephen climbed on top of Tony and gently pushed him further into the mattress and deepened the kiss before adjusting his legs and straddling Tony’s hips. Tony put his arms around Stephen’s neck and Stephen finally broke the kiss before trailing kisses down Tony’s jawline and down his throat and chest. 

Tony watched as Stephen gently crawled down the bed kissing Tony’s chest and stomach all the way until he reached the waistband of Tony’s pyjama bottoms. Stephen gently inched down Tony’s pyjama bottoms. 

“Looks like your cock is more awake than you are,” teased Stephen as he took Tony’s half hard length in his hand. Tony opened his mouth to say something but Stephen wrapped his lips around his cock before he could utter a word and all that came out of his mouth was a gasp. 

“Uh, uh, uh… STEPHEN!” gasped Tony. 

Stephen took Tony deeper and Tony gasped louder. GOD. Stephen was too good at this. He reached down and put his hand on Stephen's head. Stephen made a groan of approval and swallowed Tony down further as his boyfriend ran his fingers through his hair. 

Stephen "Ah, ah Stephen, ah," gasped Tony. Stephen released Tony's cock and took one of his balls in his mouth and gave it a long hard suck. 

"Stephen, GOD!" 

Stephen released Tony’s ball from his mouth before he licked down Tony's vein and swallowed Tony down once more. 

"I'm close," moaned Tony. Stephen took Tony impossibly deeper and Tony pulled Stephen's hair tighter, it hurt but Stephen didn't care as with one final shout Tony came in his mouth and Stephen hummed once more with the satisfaction of reducing Tony to a screaming mess. Stephen rode out Tony's orgasm before swallowing his cum and releasing his cock with a slobbery plop. 

"Was that worth getting up early for?" asked Stephen sitting up, his hair impossibly ruffled from Tony pulling at him. Tony thought there was no sight prettier than Stephen with his hair a mess and his lips plump from giving him a blowjob. 

Tony reached up and put his hand behind Stephen's neck and pulled him down for a kiss. Tony could taste himself on Stephen's tongue and he groaned. He pulled Stephen down beside him without breaking the kiss and they lay there kissing for what felt like a long time. Stephen finally broke the kiss and nuzzled Tony's nose before kissing him chastely again. "I really have to get ready for work," he said he reached over and brushed Tony's hair with his fingers. "I'll have to brush my teeth again too, I can't go in with cum breath." 

Tony laughed and kissed Stephen again. "I dunno," he said. "I think it might be a Listerine flavour that will really take off." 

Stephen kissed Tony again. "I somehow doubt that, babe." 

Stephen pulled himself up from the bed and padded back towards the bathroom. Tony heard him putting on the shower and the sound of water hitting off its glass walls. Tony found himself smiling at the door Stephen had just walked through before shaking his head and pulling himself together. Man, he was in so deep he was even smiling just looking in the vague direction of his boyfriend. 

Tony took Stephen’s laptop from the nightstand and began to look through his emails. He was scrolling through his social media timeline when he saw a post that caught his eye. 

It was from an old school friend and she had posted a long paragraph and photos of what her boyfriend had got her for her birthday and it was only as Tony read the post and looked at the photos that he realised something. He didn't know the date of Stephen's birthday. 

They'd been dating since February and it was the beginning of November now. Had he missed Stephen's birthday? How did you date someone for this long and not know their birthday? They had spent the weekend in Vermont for his own birthday back in May. He tried to think back if Stephen's birthday had ever come up in conversation but... no. He couldn't think of Stephen ever mentioning it. 

He heard Stephen turning off the shower and waited as Stephen walked out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist and towelling his hair. Stephen flashed Tony a smile. "So, I give you a blowjob and you can't even get your ass out of bed to make me a coffee?" 

"When's your birthday?" asked Tony completely ignoring the coffee comment. 

Stephen turned to face him and threw the towel he'd been drying his hair with into the laundry basket. “That’s a random question,” he said simply. 

Tony watched as Stephen walked towards the wardrobe and began pulling clothes out. He waited for an answer but Stephen didn’t offer one. 

Stephen continued to dry off and began to get dressed and still hadn’t answered Tony’s question. 

“So?” asked Tony finally.

Stephen turned to face him again as he buttoned his shirt. “So, what?” 

“When’s your birthday?”

Stephen shrugged and turned back to face the mirror as he fixed his hair. “It’s not important,” he answered vaguely. 

Tony pulled back the covers and got out of the bed. “Why?”

“Ummmm, well…,” said Stephen seeming to choose his words carefully. “We just never used to celebrate birthdays back home.” 

Tony cocked his head to the side. “What really.”

“Mmmmhmmmm,” affirmed Stephen as he sat back on the foot of the bed to put on his shoes. 

“Like never?” asked Tony. 

“Yeah, we just didn’t do birthdays,” said Stephen. 

“Strange by name, strange by nature,” said Tony. 

Stephen laughed but his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Yeah, I suppose.” He got up and picked up his wallet and keys from the dresser. “I’ve really got to go,” he said closing the distance between himself and Tony and kissing his boyfriend deeply. “I’ll see you tonight, okay?” he said pulling away and kissing Tony one last time before heading towards the door. He stopped at the doorway and looked back and smiled. “I love you.”

Tony returned his smile. “I love you too.”

Tony listened as the front door shut and he let out a sigh. That was definitely weird. Why didn't Stephen tell him when his birthday was? And why didn't Stephen's family celebrate birthdays? Tony scratched his head and made his way to the kitchen and put on Stephen's coffee maker. He was just confused. He held onto the counter and thought about his conversation with Stephen as the coffee maker did it's magic and he tried to think of reasons why Stephen wouldn't tell him when his birthday was, he couldn't come up with any real valid ones. 

The coffee maker flicked off and Tony took a mug and poured himself some of the coffee and took a sip and breathed out heavily. There was nothing like the first hit of caffeine in the morning. His stomach gave a rumble and he decided to see what Stephen had in for breakfast and found a bagel in the cupboard and popped it into the toaster. He got butter from the fridge and rummaged in the drawers for a knife. For such a well organised person, Stephen's kitchen had absolutely zero order. Nothing was where you would think it should be and Tony never reached for the right drawer to find the cutlery. He just opened them all at random until he found the right one. 

He opened the top drawer beside the fridge and froze. It was just full of clutter and general things like batteries and stationery but what caught Tony's eye was that Stephen's passport was sitting under a notepad. 

Tony just stared at the little blue book. Stephen's birthday would be in that. This was his chance to find out the date. Tony took a look around as if he suspected Stephen to drop from the ceiling as soon as he touched the passport before he snatched it from the drawer. 

He flipped the book open to the identity page and he couldn't help but smile at Stephen's photo, the man looked a few years younger and his haircut was both embarrassing and endearing. Tony took his eyes from the photo to check Stephen's birthday. 

November 18th.

“Shit,” thought Tony. “That’s next week.” 

Tony checked the year and shit Stephen was going to be 30 next week. 

Tony let out a breath he didn’t even realise he was holding and put the passport back in the drawer and closed it before returning to his coffee and bagel. Was Stephen embarrassed about turning 30? Is that why he didn’t tell him? He didn’t see why that even made sense because he was a few years older than Stephen so it wasn’t as if that was an issue. Tony took a long sip of his coffee and a bite of his bagel. For his own 30th he had spent a weekend in Vegas… well he’d drank A LOT that weekend so maybe it wasn’t Vegas but he just knew he had had a good time. You couldn’t just ignore your 30th birthday and if Stephen’s family really had never celebrated birthdays than that meant Stephen had missed out on three decades worth of birthday parties. 

Tony drained the last of his coffee. Well, if that was the case he was going to make sure Stephen was going to have a party to remember. 

Tony spent the day alone organising Stephen's birthday dinner. He booked a function room in Stephen's favourite restaurant and he got in contact with some of Stephen's old uni friends and his co-workers to invite them and so far, everyone had said yes. A free bar and food in one of the more prestigious restaurants in Manhattan seemingly meant that it didn't take much convincing to make people want to go. He ordered balloons and a cake and other party essentials and he couldn't help but smile as he planned out everything. This was exciting, he was finally going to give Stephen Strange his first ever birthday party and he felt giddy at the thoughts of it. 

He didn't notice the time passing and by the time he had everything organised it was almost time for Stephen to be coming home from work. He tidied up everything on his laptop so if Stephen used it he wouldn't accidentally stumble upon anything that would spoil the surprise and put the laptop back in his bag and began to prepare dinner for himself and Stephen. 

Tony was almost ready to dish the dinner up when Stephen came home. He heard his boyfriend kick off his shoes and dump his keys and wallet on the table before he came up behind him and wrapped his arms around Tony's neck and kissed him on the cheek. 

"Hey, love," he said softly. 

Tony reached back and kissed Stephen chastely. "Hey," he said. 

Stephen kissed him again before giving Tony's ass a pinch and moving to set the table. Tony dished up their dinner and moved to the table to sit across from Stephen as his boyfriend poured them a drink. He found himself staring at Stephen as he began to ate his dinner and Stephen was so engrossed in his food that he didn't seem to notice. 

Tony felt his heart swell just looking at him and he couldn't believe the man in front of him had never had a birthday party in his life and he couldn't wait to finally treat him and give him the party he really deserved next week. 

** 

Tony enjoyed the next week of secretly planning Stephen's party. Everything was coming together nicer and the guest list was set and he had all his presents for Stephen organised. He didn't want Stephen to know he knew when his birthday was so he was going to act clueless all day and not give Stephen his presents until they got to the restaurant. 

 

Tony stayed over in Stephen's apartment on the night of the 17th and as usual on the morning of the party, Stephen's alarm woke him up. Tony moaned and groped for the clock on the nightstand before slamming it off. It took him a few moments to wake up and then he remembered the date and that today was the day. Stephen's birthday. 

Tony reached across the bed to hug his boyfriend and give him a morning kiss but his arms fell against the empty bed. Tony finally opened his eyes and pulled himself up on the bed to find Stephen wasn't there. 

"Stephen?" he called. 

No reply. 

He couldn't hear the shower going and Stephen's side of the bed was stone cold so Tony figured he'd been up a while. 

Tony got out of bed. "Stephen?" he called again as he padded out of the bedroom and down the hall towards the kitchen. There was no sign of him anywhere. Tony scratched his head. Stephen never left without saying bye so he didn't know what was going on. 

Tony went back to the bedroom and took his phone and dialled Stephen's number. Stephen's phone rang out four times before cutting off. Tony furrowed his brow. Why wasn't he picking up? He redialled and this time Stephen answered on the second ring. 

"What?"

Tony felt a heaviness in his chest. Had he done something to piss Stephen off? "Charming way to say good morning to your boyfriend."

Stephen sighed on the other end of the line. "Sorry," he said. 

There was an awkward silence on the line. Tony expected Stephen to say something else but he didn't. 

"You left without saying goodbye."

Tony could hear Stephen typing away on his computer and he offered no response. "Stephen?" 

"Sorry Tone," said Stephen. "I got called in early and I didn't want to wake you."

Something didn't feel right but Tony couldn't tell what was wrong. "Are you okay?"

"Look, Tony," said Stephen curtly. "I have a lot to do and I really don't have time to chat, okay? I'll talk to you later." 

Tony would be lying if he said Stephen's tone didn't hurt but he knew when Stephen was working he could be a bit of an ass. 

"Ummm okay," he said. "Just make sure you get home on time this evening."

"Why?"

"No reason," said Tony vaguely. 

"Okay whatever bye," said Stephen. 

"I lov-" Tony's words were cut off as Stephen hung up on him. 

Tony threw his phone down on the bed and bit his lip. He stared down at his phone half expecting Stephen to call him back and apologise but he didn't.

What was up with him? Was he just being a sour ass because he'd turned 30? Was he having a bad morning at work? Had he said something to him that pissed him off? 

Tony sighed and flailed out on the bed. Maybe he should cancel tonight. Tony picked up his phone and dialled the number for the restaurant and stared at his phone before hitting the cancel key and throwing the phone back down on the bed. No, he was being ridiculous. They'd been up late last night and Stephen went into work early and he was probably just cranky and tired. He needed a night out to let his hair down and in about twelve hours’ time they'd be eating a fancy dinner and about to go dancing. He decided not to think about it anymore and went back into the kitchen to make breakfast. 

**

It was 6:30pm and Stephen wasn't home yet and Tony was getting a bit nervous. Their reservations were for 7pm and Stephen was supposed to be home an hour ago. Where the hell was he? Tony paced the living room in his tuxedo and took out his phone to call Stephen. Ever since their call this morning Stephen's phone had been off and as he rang his number again the call went straight to Stephens' voicemail. 

Tony was getting pretty annoyed. He was looking up Christine Palmer's number to ask if she'd been talking to Stephen before her shift ended when Stephen walked through the door. 

Stephen stopped when he saw Tony dressed up. "Why are you so dressed up?"

"You said you'd be home early." 

Stephen shrugged. "Sorry."

Tony felt a flare of anger rise in his chest but he really didn't want to argue before the party. He took a deep breath instead of snapping at his boyfriend. "Can you go get changed?"

"For what?"

"We're going out." 

Stephen sighed. "Do we have to?" 

"Yes," said Tony checking the clock on the wall. "I've a table booked for 7pm, Stephen so please?"

Stephen pinched the bridge of his nose between his forefinger and his thumb. "I'm really tired," he said. "Can we just skip it tonight?"

Tony clenched his jaw. "No, we can’t," he said. "Now go get changed." 

"Can't you just-

"No, Stephen," said Tony firmly. "I can't rebook it and I can't cancel it so just go and get changed and we will have a nice dinner, okay?" 

Stephen looked at him and narrowed his eyes and for a moment Tony thought he was just going to storm back out of the apartment and that would be that but instead Stephen sighed and with a slightly defeated look on his face he said, "fine, just give me ten minutes."

"Five."

Stephen rolled his eyes but some of his frustration seemed to have subsided. "You're a hard man, Stark."

Stephen went to walk past Tony to go to his bedroom and stopped briefly only to give Tony a peck on the cheek before disappearing into his bedroom. 

Tony sighed. He really hoped Stephen's mood improved once the party began. God, after this day and Stephen's mood he really felt like he needed a night out. 

Stephen emerged from his bedroom a few minutes later in his tux and Tony whistled. 

Stephen smiled for the first time since coming home. "I know, I know, I'm hot as fuck in this."

Tony closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around Stephen's waist and gave his ass a squeeze. "I just want to rip you out of it," he said.

Stephen laughed and kissed Tony deeply. Tony melted into the kiss and didn't take his hands from his lover's ass. He wanted nothing more than to bend Stephen over the kitchen table and take him right here and now but they really had somewhere they needed to be and he very reluctantly broke the kiss. 

"Come on babe," he said. "We have a dinner date." 

Tony took Stephen's hand in his own and led him out of the apartment. 

**

Stephen seemed to be more like himself when they were in the cab driving towards the restaurant. He still seemed a little off but he definitely didn't seem to be in such a bad mood as before. He was still really quiet but he didn't seem to be quite as angry so Tony guessed that was a win. He was certain that as soon as Stephen walked into the function room and saw everyone there to celebrate his birthday that he would cheer up a lot. 

Stephen was actually laughing by the time they pulled up at the restaurant and seemed to be loosening up by the second. Tony figured he had just had a bad day at work and now that he was out of the hospital he was feeling a lot better. Tony walked around the car and met Stephen on the pavement and offered him his hand and Stephen pulled him in for a kiss. 

"Come on," said Tony kissing him quickly again. "Let's go in." 

They walked in hand and hand into the restaurant and Tony gave his name at reception and the man at the desk told them to walk down the hall and passed the main restaurant room. 

"I thought we were eating in the restaurant?" asked Stephen. 

"Oh, I booked us a back room," lied Tony quickly. 

"Why?"

"More private."

Stephen seemed sceptical but he followed Tony nonetheless. 

They reached the end of the hall and Tony hung back slightly wanting Stephen to open the door himself. 

Stephen cut Tony a bemused look as he pushed the door open. The room was in darkness and Tony couldn't help but smile at Stephen's confusion. 

"Are you sure this is the right room? I-"

Before Stephen could finish speaking the lights flashed on and the room came to life. Balloons fell from the ceiling and Stephen's friends and co-workers jumped up and yelled "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" in unison. 

Stephen glanced around the room at the banners and balloons and the table of presents and the guests and the food and he took a step backwards. What was this? 

He felt Tony take his hand again and Stephen looked at him. He was grinning up at him and he looked so proud of himself. "Happy birthday, baby," he said and he leaned into kiss Stephen but Stephen pulled back. 

"What is this, Tony?"

Tony seemed confused. "A surprise party, obviously."

Tony leaned in to kiss Stephen again but Stephen pulled back once more. 

Stephen dropped Tony's hand. "Why did you do this?" 

Tony felt sick, he never expected Stephen to react like this and now everyone was staring. The atmosphere that had been jolly only seconds before now felt icy cold. 

"It's your birthday and I wanted to-

"Yes," laughed Stephen humourlessly. "You wanted to, you didn't think of asking me what I wanted, did you?"

Tony felt like he'd been slapped. 

"Stephen, I-

Stephen took one look around the room. "I can't," he said simply before turning and leaving. 

Tony felt embarrassed and angry. He had spent the last week organising this just for Stephen to take one look at the room and leave without even acknowledging the guests. He could hear the gossiping whispers in the corners of the room and the anger he'd been holding back all day finally came to the surface as he stormed out of the function room and after Stephen. 

"Hey!" he called but Stephen didn't turn around. He watched as Stephen left through the front door of the restaurant and he raced to catch up with him. 

He reached the front door as he saw Stephen unsuccessfully try and wave down a cab. 

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked storming up to Stephen.

Stephen ignored him as he continued to try and flag down a cab. Tony grabbed Stephen’s arm and pulled him around to face him. “What the fuck, Stephen?” he snapped. “I’ve been planning this for you all week and I got all the decorations and booked a band and I got all your friends from uni and your co-workers here for a three-course meal and a free bar and you just storm out like a toddler throwing a tantrum? What the fuck?” 

Stephen just stared him down but he didn’t say anything and he pulled his arm from Tony’s grasp and tried again to get the attention of a taxi driver. 

Tony was getting angrier by the second. “Oh? So, you’re not talking to me now?” he said bitterly. “Grow the fuck up, Stephen. You’re 30 not 3.”

Stephen bit his lip and Tony watched as a hundred emotions seemed to flash across his face. “Drop it, Tony,” he said finally. 

“Why are you acting like this?” asked Tony. 

Stephen finally got the attention of a taxi driver and a taxi pulled up on the kerb. Stephen sighed in relief and went to open the door but Tony slammed it shut. Tony just gave his boyfriend a bewildered look. “Stephen,” he said. “What’s wrong?”

Stephen bit his lip again before shaking his head and reaching for the car door again. “Enjoy the party,” he said before jumping into the car and slamming the door behind him. 

Tony stood on the kerb and watched as Stephen’s cab sped off. It had been a long time since Tony had felt this angry. He couldn’t believe Stephen. 

He took out his phone and dialled Stephen’s number. It rang once before cutting off and going to Stephen’s voicemail. Tony felt his rage building more and more as he listened to Stephen’s voicemail recording before leaving his own message. “Fuck you, Stephen,” he said after the beep. “Just… fuck you. I knew you could be an asshole but you really outdid yourself tonight. Tony laughed bitterly. “No wonder nobody ever did anything for your birthday before Stephen because you don’t deserve anyone do anything nice for you. Enjoy your night alone in your fucking apartment of bitterness. Bye Stephen.”

Tony hung up and took a deep breath to try and clear his head. He felt he had perhaps been a bit too cruel in the voicemail but right now he really didn’t care. He put his phone away in his pocket and turned to go back into the restaurant. Fuck Stephen anyway. He hadn’t planned this for a week and spent all this money just to not enjoy the night and he was going to party even if Stephen was too much of a drama queen to join him. 

**

Tony spent his night eating and drinking and dancing and drinking and drinking some more. He made sure to take plenty of photos and videos on his phone so he could show Stephen the amazing night he had missed out on, admittedly it was probably a bit petty but after the way Stephen had treated him he really didn’t care. He was pretty drunk by the time the party wrapped up and he stumbled into the back seat of a cab. Without thinking he gave Stephen’s address instead of his own but he didn’t care he could show the bastard how much fun he had had without him. Twenty minutes later he staggered through Stephen’s front door. He slammed the door shut behind him and kicked off his shoes. He didn’t care how much noise he was making because honestly if he woke Stephen up he deserved it. 

He wandered into Stephen’s bedroom and found that Stephen was still awake and curled up in a ball on the bed. Stephen didn’t even bother to look up when Tony entered the room and Tony rolled his eyes. “Still bein’ a cranky li’l shit?” he slurred.

Stephen sniffed but didn’t say anything. Tony ignored him and changed out of his tuxedo and into his pyjamas and got into the bed beside Stephen. Stephen got out of the bed without saying anything and Tony rolled his eyes again as he began to scroll through some of the photos from tonight so he was ready to show Stephen what he had missed out on when he came back. 

Stephen came back with a large glass of water and a packet of painkillers and handed them to Tony. “Judging on your breath I think you’ll need these,” he said in a small voice. 

Tony looked up to take the glass and pills and for the first time since coming home he saw Stephen’s face and it was obvious from his red swollen eyes that he had been crying. Tony wasn’t sure what to say then but all he knew was he all of a sudden didn’t care about showing the man the photos from tonight, so he just put the water on the bedside table and he put out his arms beckoning Stephen in for a hug. Stephen hesitated for a moment before he crawled back into the bed and enveloped himself in Tony’s arms. Neither man said anything for what felt like a long time and as Tony held his boyfriend in his arms he felt himself sobering up already. Stephen sniffed again and he lay with his head on Tony's shoulder. "I'm sorry about today," he said his voice still small and it held none of his usually confidence. 

Tony kissed his boyfriend's forehead softly. All his anger from earlier had dissipated. "What happened?"

Stephen was quiet for a long time and Tony was beginning to think that he wasn’t going to get an answer but Stephen sniffed again and sighed deeply before burying his face in Tony’s chest further. Tony almost didn’t hear him when he finally answered but when he did Tony felt his heart sink. "It's my sister's anniversary today."

Tony froze. Those five words hit him like a train. Shit. Shit. Shit. How had he not known that? How had he not even known that Stephen had had a sister? Oh, fuck… "I-I'm sorry," he said finally.

Stephen seemed to be really focusing on his breathing. "You… you didn't know, it's okay."

Tony felt like utter shit. "I… didn't know you had a sister."

"Her name was Donna,” said Stephen. "She died on my nineteenth birthday."

"Stephen-

"She was the reason I became a doctor," continued Stephen talking over Tony.

"Really?" 

"Yeah," said Stephen his voice small and quiet and Tony really had to focus to hear him. "She used to get these chronic headaches. She was nearly always sick and the doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. I wanted to... I wanted to become a doctor so I'd be able to help her. Make the pain go away." 

Tony pulled Stephen in closer to him and Stephen took Tony's hand in his own and interlocked their fingers. 

"What happened?" asked Tony. 

"It was winter break from uni and I was studying in my roo-

"You were studying during the school break?" 

"I told you, I wanted to be a doctor I needed to get the best grades."

"You're a weird one, Strange." 

Stephen just smiled ruefully. "Donna thought the same," he said. "She came into my room and called me a loser and demanded I go swimming with her." Stephen laughed. "God she was a powerhouse. You couldn't say no to Donna. She pulled my swimming shorts out of the closet and grabbed my hand and dragged me from the room."

Tony laughed. "I like her already." 

"I'm telling you Stark, you'd have loved her." 

Tony ran his fingers through Stephen's hair as the other man thought about his sister. "There was a lake behind our house, we used to always go swimming there when we were kids. And it was a family tradition with Donna and I that we would always go swimming during our birthdays… She got the better end of the deal because her birthday was in August but even if the lake was frozen over in November she’d demand we dived in. Man, I loved swimming in that lake. We both did. Dad taught us how to swim when we were very young and we basically spent every summer in that lake. Mom used to joke that we'd get webbed feet if we weren't careful." 

Tony felt empty as he saw the smile on Stephen's face slowly fade. "It was just a normal day, it was quite warm actually, for a while anyway... We played together for a bit and talked and raced each other and-"

Stephen licked his lips. "Donna was always messing. She used to do this stunt from Jaws."

"Jaws?"

"Yeah, the film. You know the girl at the start who dies?" 

"Yeah."

"She used to do that. Man, she was such a good actress. She'd just stop in the water and smile at you and then she'd act like something had pulled her foot and go under the water. It was like her statement piece... She’d… She’d do it every time... I-I didn't know." 

Stephen pulled away from Tony turned away from him and sat up on the bed with his legs out over the side. "She was doing her skit and went under and I laughed and... then... she didn't come back up. I remember just floating there and thinking she'd been under for a long time but she sometimes used to swim over to me and pull on my leg too and pretend to be the shark and I thought that was what she was doing… I didn't know that she was... I got scared then... She'd been under too long and I was scared and I started calling out her name and I dove down and she was at the bottom of the lake and I swam down to her and tried to carry her up but her leg was caught on this weed thing at the bottom of the lake and I couldn't untangle her and... God, I was so scared and I wasted so much time trying to rip away that stupid fucking weed... By the time I freed her I-I was so lightheaded and I felt I was about to pass out. I got us to the surface and she didn't cough or anything.... I took us to the shore and laid her out on the bank and checked her pulse and there wasn't one… She wasn't breathing." 

"I didn't know how to do CPR properly back then... I just... I did what I'd seen on TV... I was crying and panicking and-"

Stephen stopped and buried his head in his hands. Tony had never seen him cry like this. Tony sat up and put his arm around his boyfriend. "Shhhhhh," he said softly trying to comfort him. "You're okay. It's okay." 

Stephen turned into Tony and leant into the man's chest as Tony wrapped both arms around him. 

Tony felt Stephen's crying against his chest and he just held him. He rested his chin on Stephen's hair and rubbed his back as the man cried against him. Tony didn't know what to say, he felt this was one of those moments were there was nothing to say so he just held Stephen as he cried. 

It was a few minutes before Stephen stopped crying. He finally adjusted himself so he leant one cheek into Tony's chest and he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. He stayed liked that quietly for a little longer. 

"I heard a crack," he said finally.

"What?"

"When I was trying CPR," said Stephen. "I broke one of her ribs and I just... I stopped... I didn't want to hurt her anymore." 

Tony didn’t know what to say. What was there to say? 

"Our dad came running up to us then," said Stephen. "He hit me. Hard… He kept hitting me... I just remember him yelling and crying and hitting me again and again and I let him because I was supposed to protect Donna and I'd failed her..."

"It wasn't your fault."

Stephen didn’t seem to hear him. “I was her big brother and my only job ever was to keep her safe and she died all alone and cold at the bottom of a lake.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” repeated Tony. 

“I ended up spending the night in hospital because dad had beat me up so badly when he was hitting me,” continued Stephen. Stephen had curled in tighter against Tony. “My parents didn’t come to the hospital to pick me up when I was discharged so I had to take the bus home and when I got home… My dad met me at the door and told me I wasn’t welcome inside his home.” Stephen sniffed again. “He’d packed a bag for me and told me I wasn’t to come to Donna’s funeral… I tried to talk to my mom but she… She… I’d broken them, Tony. I destroyed my parents. Mom just kept crying and dad told me… He told me that to him both his children were dead.”

“Oh, Stephen.”

“I’d nowhere else to go so I… I went back to New York. I tried calling my parents a lot but they never answered. I don’t remember much of what happened after that… I must have blacked it out. I think I just spent every day in my dorm room.”

Tony really didn’t know what to say. He just held Stephen and kissed the top of his head. He got it now. No wonder Stephen didn’t want to celebrate his birthday, who would? 

“What happened then?” Tony asked softly. 

Stephen sniffed again. “Mom came to New York to see me. She’d told my dad she was going to see her sister and she just turned up at my dorm one Saturday. I remember just breaking down in her arms and her holding me as I cried like she used to when I was a kid. She kept saying sorry and so did I and she took me inside and sat with me until I stopped crying.”

Stephen paused. “She told me they got the conclusive results of Donna’s autopsy. She had a stroke in the water. She was dead before I'd even found her. Even if we'd been in a hospital the doctors said she wouldn't have made it. Mom told me that she didn’t blame me and that she never had. She told me that she had just been so consumed with grief that she just hadn’t been able to do anything for a while and she hadn’t been able to even process Donna’s death never mind what happened with dad. She kept apologising for dad kicking me out and told me that… She told me that I was still her son and she would always love me and that what had happened Donna wasn’t my fault.”

"I'm sorry, Stephen."

“Dad apologised himself later… A lot later. Things were never the same between us again and on some level, I think he did always blame me for Donna’s death.”

Stephen readjusted himself in Tony’s arms and Tony kissed him on his brow. 

"She was fifteen when she died," Stephen's voice broke again. "I miss her every day. She had so much to give, Tone. So much. I know... I know I couldn't have done anything but I'll never forgive myself for not being able to help her."

Tony kissed Stephen's forehead. "She'd be so proud of you now."

"Maybe."

Tony put a hand on Stephen's chin and lifted his face to kiss him. He kissed him chastely and held his face softly. When he broke the kiss and nuzzled Stephen’s nose tenderly. "Of course, she'd be proud of you, she'd have this slick apartment to crash in whenever she comes to New York." 

Stephen laughed weakly. "She'd have loved this place. Definitely would have tried to convince me that painting every room pink was a good idea." 

"Well, actually-

"Oh no," said Stephen pulling himself away from Tony’s shoulder. His eyes were puffy from crying and his hair was tussled but Tony felt a little warmness in his chest when Stephen finally smiled. "There's no way I'm letting you paint this place pink," said the doctor.

Tony put his hands on Stephen's hips. "You've a twelve-hour shift tomorrow right? And there's a hardware store down the street. Might just pop in and look at the paints." 

"No!" 

"Magenta in the kitchen, soft baby pink in the living room, dusty pink in the bathroom, hot pink in the bedroom. Beautiful." 

"I hate you."

"You say the sweetest things, babe."

Stephen laughed and Tony felt joy to hear that sound once more. He reached over and gently wiped away the tears that stained Stephen’s face. He put his hand on the back of Stephen’s head and he leant forward and kissed him then. 

Tony leant his forehead against Stephen’s and sighed when he broke the kiss. Stephen sniffed again. “I came across as a total asshole tonight, didn’t I?”

“A little bit yeah,” admitted Tony. 

Stephen groaned in embarrassment and buried his face in Tony’s chest. 

“But to be fair,” said Tony as he hugged Stephen’s shoulders and rested his chin on his boyfriend’s head. “You pretty much always come across as a total asshole.”

Stephen laughed against Tony’s chest. “You’re such a dick.”

“You really missed your calling to work for Hallmark with these sweet notes of endearment of yours, Stephen,” teased Tony. 

Stephen lifted his head and kissed Tony. “I love you,” he said. 

“I know.”

“Did you just Han Solo me?” 

Tony gave Stephen his flashiest grin and Stephen swatted him playfully. “You’re such a dickhead, Stark.”

“Yeah,” admitted Tony. “But you love me.”

Stephen curled himself back up in Tony’s arms and closed his eyes. The comforting and steady beat of his boyfriend’s heart grounding him and he felt himself relaxing completely. “God help me, I do.”

Tony laughed and kissed the top of Stephen’s head. “For the record,” said Tony. “You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. The absolute best. I never knew happiness until I met you. I love you too, Stephen.”

No reply.

“Stephen?”

Tony was met with the sound of Stephen’s soft snores and he rolled his eyes before laughing softly. He reached over for the bedside lamp and powered it off. “You’re such an asshole, Stephen,” he whispered. “Me here declaring my undying love for you and you just fall asleep.” 

Tony looked down at Stephen lying across his chest and he smiled at his sleeping lover before kissing him softly once more and cuddling him close before finally and peacefully drifting off to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading. Kudos and comments are always appreciated.


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